San Antonio Missions up against nation's best parks for share of $2 million in Nat Geo contest

The proposed apartment complex would be just to the east of Mission Concepción in the neighborhood of Roosevelt Park.

The proposed apartment complex would be just to the east of Mission Concepción in the neighborhood of Roosevelt Park.

Photo: Kin Man Hui /San Antonio Express-News

Photo: Kin Man Hui /San Antonio Express-News

Image
1of/75

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 75

The proposed apartment complex would be just to the east of Mission Concepción in the neighborhood of Roosevelt Park.

The proposed apartment complex would be just to the east of Mission Concepción in the neighborhood of Roosevelt Park.

Photo: Kin Man Hui /San Antonio Express-News

San Antonio Missions up against nation's best parks for share of $2 million in Nat Geo contest

1 / 75

Back to Gallery

The San Antonio Missions National Historic Park is in the running for a funding project coordinated by National Geographic and American Express.

Voting takes place until July 5, and the top five parks will be awarded a portion of $2 million in funding from American Express for the preservation project. The campaign is also established by Partners in Preservation.

Specifically, if the Missions were to receive the funding, a $236,000 grant would go toward preserving the frescoes and various architectural components of Mission Concepción in the convent and the Father President’s office. The frescoes, which are a form of painting with watercolors painted on lime plaster, are fragile and offer a unique feature to the Missions Concepción.

As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, the San Antonio Missions are in 13th place in the contest. The current front-runners are Yellowstone National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Grand Canyon National Park.